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WRKL
'''WRKL '''is a television station serving the Lakeland area of Florida in the United States that is licensed to Winston. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on virtual channel 15 from a transmitter in Winston. WRKL's studios are located along East Memorial Boulevard (US 92) near Reynolds Road in Lakeland. Owned by Dorado Media, it is a sister station to UDC affiliate WLFU-TV (channel 22, owned by Central Broadcasting), which Dorado operates under a local marketing agreement. WRKL is an affiliate of DBC, and the RKO Network. The station's programming and RKO affiliation was moved onto the second digital subchannel of Dorado's existing station in the market. WRKL's license was sold to Central Broadcasting in order to form a new station using its existing facilities. History The current WRKL first began operations on November 22, 1972, as an independent station. It joined the RKO Network as a charter affiliate on January 11, 1995. During the analog era, WRKL's over-the-air signal was spotty at best in much of the market, as was typical with most UHF stations at the time. At one point, the Lakeland side of the market obtained a weaker signal from WRKL compared with other stations from Tampa. It survived mainly due to the very high penetration of cable in the region. '''DBC joins channel 15 and RKO moves to the digital subchannels On February 23, 2018, Dorado announced that it would launch a DBC station in the market. As part of the deal, Dorado intended to sell WRKL's license assets, but would still operate that station through shared services and joint sales agreements. As part of a restructuring of the Dorado deal in order to address these ownership conflicts, Dorado announced that it would terminate its shared services agreement proposal. Dorado filed to have WRKL's license assets sold to Central Broadcasting, averting a complete shutdown of the station. WRKL will be operated independently, and Dorado will not enter into a shared services agreement or similar to operate the station. Digital Television Digital channels The station's digital signal is multiplexed: Analog-to-digital conversion WRKL shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 15, on February 17, 2009, to conclude the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television. News Operation WRKL presently broadcasts 32 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with six hours on weekdays, and one hour each on Saturdays and Sundays). In addition, the station produces the hour-long infotainment program Lakeland Chat, which airs weekday mornings at 9:00 a.m., and the half-hour sports highlight and discussion program The Zone, which airs on Sunday nights following the 10:00 p.m. newscast. Slogans *"We Are Channel 15!" (1972-1973) *"The Best Moments Are on Channel 15." (1973-1974) *"In Lakeland, Your Choice is Channel 15." (1974-1975) *"Get the Channel 15 Spirit." (1975-1976) *"Feel Free with Channel 15." (1976-1977) *"Channel 15 Brings Out the Best." (1977-1978) *"Channel 15. Television is Our Middle Name." (1978-1979) *"Channel 15. TV for the 1980's." (1979-1980) *"Channel 15. We're Feeling Good in Lakeland." (1980-1981) *"Channel 15. The Best TV Shows Around." (1981-1982) *"Channel 15. We Put Viewers First." (1982-1983) *"Channel 15. The Finest Quality." (1983-1984) *"Channel 15. All the Best." (1984-1985) *"Channel 15 Makes Me Happy." (1985-1986) *"Channel 15. Lakelandian TV at its Finest." (1986-1987) *"Channel 15. Television That Excites." (1987-1988) *"Channel 15. On the Move." (1988-1989) *"Nobody Does It in Lakeland Like Channel 15." (1989-1990) *"Channel 15. We're Tuned in to You." (1990-1991) *"Channel 15. Cool Like Us." (1991-1992) *"Channel 15 Cool Television for Lakeland." (1992-1993) *"It's A Brand New Channel 15!" (1993-1994) *"Channel 15. We've Got The Biggest Hits." (1994-1995) *"Channel 15. We're the Hot Ones." (1995-1996) *"It's Channel 15!" (1996-1997) *"The Stars Are Back on Channel 15." (1997-1998) *"This is the Year to Be on Channel 15." (1998-1999) *"Channel 15. New Millennium Television." (1999-2000) *"Channel 15 and you. Everything in common." (2000-2001) *"The Address is Channel 15. Welcome Home." (2001-2002) *"Lakeland, Get Ready for Channel 15." (2002-2003) *"The Look of Lakeland is Channel 15." (2003-2004) *"We're With You on Channel 15." (2004-2005) *"Channel 15. Our Pride is Showing." (2005-2006) *"This is Channel 15." (2006-2007) *"Channel 15. Television You Can Feel." (2007-2008) *"Channel 15. Together." (2008-2009) *"We've Got the Touch. You and Channel 15." (2009-2010) *"Gather Around the Good Stuff on Channel 15." (2010-2011) *"Lakeland is Watching Channel 15." (2011-2012) *"I Love Channel 15." (2012-2013) *"Channel 15. The Network is You." (2013-2014) *"Channel 15 is More than Television." (2014-2015) *"Welcome Home to Channel 15." (2015-2016) *"Channel 15. Always Brighter." (2016-2018) Category:Channel 15 Category:RKO Network affiliated stations Category:Lakeland, FL Category:Florida Category:Television channels and stations established in 1972 Category:Dorado Media Category:Dorado Broadcasting Company